The categorisation of the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time is called periodization.
[1] This is a list of such named time periods as defined in various fields of study.
On the geologic time scale, the Holocene epoch starts at the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age (c. 10,000 BC) and continues to the present.
Pre-Columbian America Colonial America Maritime Southeast Asia Peninsular Southeast Asia Bronze Age China Archaic China Antiquity Medieval China Mongol China Late Dynastic Period Modern China Contemporary China Post-Contemporary China[clarification needed] Antiquity Medieval Mongolia Imperial Mongolia Modern Mongolia Prehistoric Egypt (pre-3150 BC) Dynastic Period Antiquity Islamic Egypt Medieval Egypt Modern Egypt Contemporary Egypt Prehistoric Iran Ancient age: Medieval age: Modern age:
Archaic Japan Feudal Japan Samurai Japan Modern Japan Contemporary Japan Archaic Period Imperial Period Islamic Period Prehistoric Libya Early Libya Modern Libya Ancient and Pre-Columbian Mexico Colonial Mexico Independence Era Liberal Mexico Modern Mexico Pre-Colonial era Thirteen British Colonies (1607–1775) United Colonies (1775-1781) Confederation period (1781-1789) First Party System (1789–1824) Second Party System (1824–1856) Third Party System (1856–1896) Fourth Party System (1896–1932) Fifth Party System (1932–1980) Sixth Party System (1980–present)